


Rito Courtship Rituals

by RavenclawProngs



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Gen, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27160804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenclawProngs/pseuds/RavenclawProngs
Summary: Link asks Kass an unexpected question.  He gets even less expected answers.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Rito Courtship Rituals

One evening, looking particularly worn-down, his Hylian acquaintance ventures an unexpected question.

“How did I court my wife? Hm?” He raises his accordion a fraction and plays a few notes. “Should I spin you a tale of a great whirlwind romance? Complete with a rendition of my serenade?” He does actually have a serenade in his repertoire, though it was a commissioned song, not a flight of his own heart’s fancy.

Link remains expressionless, but he’s no longer facing Kass, gazing instead at the far-off Calamity that he will all too soon face. Still, there has been a new hesitance in his young-old friend, a pause after his initial reaction whereas before he practically flew to Kass’ side once he was in range. It’s impossible to say for sure what the cause might be without asking, but he started noticing it after their talk at Rito Stable.

On a hunch, he changes tack completely, and gently continues, “I’m afraid that would give an inaccurate, though generally more ‘Hylian-friendly’ spin on things.” Now he has the Champion’s attention, Link spinning to stare at him with a soldier’s quickness, blue eyes piercing him with their intensity.

His eyes tilt up at the corners in a Rito smile as he answers the unspoken question. “That’s not to say Rito do not marry for love; many do. But it is not uncommon for couples to pair-bond for the express purpose of having a family, even without a romantic attachment. My wife and I, though we have no shortage of warm affection for each other, are not lovers, in a sense. We grew up together, fledged together, trained at the flight range together after. We realized not long after fledging that though both of us wanted to raise a family, our usual romantic proclivities would not be beneficial to such an endeavor. So we decided to raise children with each other, and seek our romantic fulfillment elsewhere. There’s a traveling Goron merchant Amali has had her eye on for some time, I believe.”

“I didn’t know that about Rito,” Link ventured.

Gazing at him kindly, Kass replied, “Many do not, and the ones that do sometimes find it distasteful, so many Rito do not speak of it. Then again, there is much you have forgotten over the years, is there not?”

Link thinks about this for a long moment, eyes going impossibly distant, before slowly answering, “Before…recently, I didn’t know many Rito, and the one I was closest to…was not the sort of friend to share such details with me.”

Kass nods, realizing he must be speaking of Revali. Given the way his teacher always spoke of him…arrogant, aloof, and condescending did not sound like the most open and sharing sort of fellow.


End file.
